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We have received many inquiries from state legislators and legislative staff people looking for ideas and advice on how to introduce Sorry Works! legislation. This kit contains all the essentials for comprehensive Sorry Works! legislation:
- Colorodo apology immunity law (Colorado Rev. State 13-25- 135). Provides immunity for all apologies and admissions of fault. Though legally unnecessary in many cases, having this law in place removes doctors' excuses for not apologizing and doing the right thing.
- Pennyslvania mandatory disclosure law (Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Act (MCARE), 2002 Penn Law Act 13, Sec. 302, 40 Pa Cons. Stat. Sec. 1303.301 et seq. (2003); MCARE Reporting and Notification, 40 Pa. Cons. Stat. Sec. 1303.308 (2003). Hospitals and healthcare organizations are required by law to disclose adverse events in writing to patients and/or families within 7 days of the incident.
- Sorry Works! grants (S. 1785 - Clinton/Obama). Provide grants and financial assistance for hospitals and healthcare organizations to implement Sorry Works! and train staff on how to properly do full-disclosure.
- Mandate Sorry Works! training for all medical students. Also, mandate Sorry Works! training as a continuing education requirement for all physicians and all healthcare professionals. The more doctors and healthcare professionals that learn about Sorry Works!, the sooner full-disclosure will be the norm, not the exception. Make Sorry Works! a standard offering for all ethics training requirements for healthcare professionals.
WORD OF CAUTION TO HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS: While Sorry Works! legislative programs are great because they provide incentives and take away excuses, you don’t have to wait for legislation to pass. Almost all existing Sorry Works! hospitals and healthcare organizations adopted full-disclosure without any legislative initiative or prompting. These facilities simply took the initiative and began Sorry Works! on their own because it was the right thing to do ethically and economically. You can do the same in your organization or office. This is the beauty of Sorry Works! and what makes it so empowering for healthcare professionals: You take control of your liability exposure and stop counting on politicians and judges to fix the problem for you. Fix it yourself today with Sorry Works!
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